Wow, it is amazing what children pick-up on. There is no hiding anything when they get to be over three years old. Why didn’t anyone tell me this?

Even having scattered conversations with my wife throughout the day seems to rearrange into comprehensible information inside my children’s heads. Then I face a barrage of questions about my work, bills and who is fighting with who.

The only escape is a second language provided the children don’t understand that as well.

Unfortunately for my parents I understood them when they spoke in their mother tongue trying to hide the conversation.

Deception

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no point in deceiving the kids about things. But when it comes to that which does not concern them such as Bills, Money and other Adult things that is where I stop talking and they don’t get involved.

Because they are children and don’t need to know about the hard struggle, just the happy bits.

They Understand

Despite how basic their understanding of events and information is; it is a fact that they understand. Whether they just associate bad feelings with a word, it doesn’t matter because the connection has been made.

I’m going to be more careful when I speak and act around my children from now on and I suggest that you do so too.

I got to stick up for myself but it is hard to do so without coming across as sexist, politically incorrect or misogynistic.

I’m a husband and a father; I am a man therefore I feel what is happening to men of all ages.

We are looked down upon. ( and I’m in no way praising the bad men or putting down the good women).

Mother’s Day shopping verses Father’s Day shopping

We are all conditioned into believing that women are the beacons of intellectual society therefore we buy them books and get them pampered.

Men are just boys living a suspended adolescence only seeking an X-Box, shaving cream, and radio-controlled helicopters.

Advertising

Men are stupid and cannot do anything at all; on television commercials I’ve seen men struggle to put infant seats in cars, use a vacuum cleaner, pick up a phone and purchase health insurance, the list goes on.

I cannot imagine the uproar that would come if women were portrayed as idiots on television commercials.

The useless father figure

Fathers especially are useless all they do is work then come home sit down and have a beer.

While mother does the cleaning, cooking, all of the parenting, pays the bills, chauffeurs the children and still looks like a supermodel.

Reality

The truth is, I cook everyday, take my kids to the park everyday, bath them, read them stories at bedtime, teach them exercises and how to stick up for themselves, teach them to read, teach them to write, console them and if I have some spare time I write on this blog.

My father did just as much for me and my son will God-willing do the same for his children.

No father

Boys growing up without a father or with a docile father-figure will eat up all the propaganda so I’m telling you men to man up and take control, guide your children.

And women back up your husbands and if they are lazy remind them of what psychological damage they are doing to their children.

It is time

Now is the time for action. Over the years our drive for success and fulfillment have vanished or been replaced with a drive for responsibility and routine. On the face of it it’s all very necessary especially when we have wives and children to take care of. But while giving it some thought the only way to progress through hard times is to work even harder and smarter.

The main reason we do not push ourselves like we did in the past is because we do so much that we cannot ponder the idea of fitting more work into the day.

THE MACHINE MAN

As a single man life was easy and time was available. But my time became more precious and fleeting as I married and had children.

The problem was not a need to dodge my responsibilities as a parent and husband but to embrace them, achieve them and also have time to climb further at work and grow as a person.

After thinking of how I could be there for my wife and kids as well as get that promotion at work or make time to write that novel I realised that I’d have to become a machine man.

BECOMING A MACHINE MAN

I dismissed all suggestions and traditions of what husbands and fathers should do, I focused on what I wanted to achieve and decided that if I could manage my time well then I could achieve anything that I wanted to.

I started to think of myself as a machine and realized that the harder I worked and the more I did, the easier it became for me.

SELF-CONDITIONING

In summation if I was lazy then I conditioned myself into only having the ability to do a little, but if I was hard-working then I was conditioning myself to do more.

The easiest way to achieve results in life is to begin them as good habits then do them routinely until they become a structured part of your everyday life.

There are many things that are good for us in life, some of the things that I feel are essential to me have been purposely weaved through my daily routine. And they are.

30 minutes exercise each morning

eat an orange a day

at least 30 minutes of sunshine each day

stay away from fried food

no cigarettes or alcohol

positive self-talk

have fun with my fellow-workers, wife and children

put on a smile even when I’m not happy

Stand-up straight and sit-up straight

be confident

It has taken me years but I have included all of the above points into my everyday routine, sure sometimes I miss a few but I don’t get stressed I just tell myself I’m having an off day and try even harder the next day.

CONCLUSION

When there is a need for extra work to be done you can find the strength within yourself. It will not come instantly but only by instilling new good habits into your daily routine. Start them off one by one.

You will find that the more work you do, the more you will be able to achieve and hunger to work even harder. Achieving things will also boost your confidence immensely.With confidence in yourself you can shape your life into what you want it to be and achieve anything that you want to achieve.